| A | B |
|---|
| Natural rights philosophy | believes that the purpose of government is to protect all people's rights to life, liberty, and property |
| State of nature | When there is no government |
| Limited government | A government that is restricted to protecting natural rights and does not interfere with other aspects of life |
| Unlimited government | Government that is unrestrained by laws or elections and can use its power without any control |
| Law of nature | The law that would prevail without any man-made law, and would contain universally obligatory standards of justice |
| Constitution | A set of laws and customs that limits the power of those controlling the government |
| Implicit Consent | When people accept the laws and services of the government of the nation of their birth |
| Explicit Consent | When people agree to a contract or join a society that is already established |
| Higher or fundamental law | A law that must be obeyed by everyone, including those in power |
| Private domain | Areas of a citizen's life that the government cannot interfere with |
| Social agreement | The agreement among all the people in a society to give up part of their freedom to a government in return for the protection of their natural rights by that government |
| Political rights | All of the implicit (constitutionally guaranteed) and implied (by natural laws) rights of a citizen in a free society |
| Civil rights | Fundamental rights belonging to every member of a society |
| Democracy | A form of government in which political control is exercised by all the people, either directly or through their elected representatives |
| Republic | A form of government in which the supreme politcal power resides in the electorate, and administration is exercised by representatives who are responsible to the people |
| Constitutional government | A government in which the powers of government are limited in practice by a writtten or unwritten constitution which they must obey |
| Equal Protection | A requirement that the laws may not discriminate against persons |
| Legitimate government | A government that cannot exist until people have given their consent to be ruled by it |
| Checks and balances | The distribution and balancing of pwer among different branches of government so that no one branch is able to dominate the others |
